August 19, 2005

More grieving parents the MSM like to ignore

Gary Qualls, 48, of Temple on Wednesday removed a cross bearing the name of his son, Louis Wayne Qualls, from the roadside memorial of the anti-war demonstrators near President Bush’s Crawford ranch.

“They have the right to protest,” he said of the followers of Cindy Sheehan. “But they are not there for a just cause.” ...

“I’m just trying to support our troops,” he said. “Our sons and daughters are true fallen heroes and their names do not need to be used in any personal vendettas.”

His son, a Marine lance corporal, died last year in Fallujah while protecting his convoy during an ambush. Qualls is himself a military veteran, and participated in the evacuation of Saigon when the United States withdrew from Vietnam.

“I’m standing up for my son,” he said. “For all soldiers of the military services, all fallen heroes and President Bush.”

Natalie Healy made a decision this summer after losing her son in war-torn Afghanistan.

"I can't go to those mountains and climb them and I can't shoot a gun," she said. "But I can do everything I can to make sure we stay the course, and if that means speaking out, then that's what I want to do."

Less than two months after the death of her son, Navy SEAL Senior Chief Petty Officer Daniel Healy, the Exeter mother and small business owner is following through on her word....

"My big concern is that the enemy will use Cindy Sheehan to their benefit. They will point to her and say, 'See? See how this American is calling the President a murderer? See how they're going to start weakening from within?'"

Healy said she was booked to speak on MSNBC's "Hardball" with Chris Matthews last night. The interview got bumped just a few hours before the show, she said....

"I'm hoping, by having another mother who's lost a son speaking out loudly and strongly, that the troops will hear it and be heartened by it," she said. "Because we all know how they're always shocked when they get home and they find out what has been reported."

Posted by Danny Carlton at August 19, 2005 09:38 AM

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